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EULOGIES ' 



DEATH OF im. WILLIAM S1YT£ 



IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, DECEMBER 21, 1870. 



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Mr. ALLISON. Mr. Speaker, it becomes 
my painful duty to aiitiouace to the House the 
death of ray. late colleague, Hon. William 
Smyth, of the second district of Iowa. He 
died on the 30th day of September last, at 
his home in Iowa, after an illness of -several 
weeks. Mr. Smyth was comparative!}^ a new 
member in the House, having been first elected 
to the present Congress, and therefore not so 
well known here as in the State he represented 
in part. His name is largely identified with 
the growth and prosperity of that State. At 
the early uge of twenty lie became a citizen of 
what was then the Territory of lov.'a. Choos- 
ing the law as a profession, he commenced the 
practice at the town of Marion in 1847. He 
was appointed the following year prosecuting 
attorney, and v/as subsequently elected and 
reelected continuously to the same ollice until 
1853, v/hen he was appointed district judge 
for the fourth district of Iowa, a position in 
the State of high honor and great, responsi- 
bility. This position he held until the spring 
of 1857, T.'heu he resigned, and resumed the 
practice of his chosen profession, which he 
continued successfully until the summer of 
1862, v/hen he entered the military service of 
the United States as colonel of the thirty- first 
regiment of Iow.a volunteer infantry. In the 
mean time, in 1858, he was selected by the 
Legislature of our State as chaiiman of a 
commission to codify and revise the laws of 
Iowa, this commission being the result of the 
adoption of a new constitution in 1857. In 
conjunction v,rith two other eminent lawyers, 
he labored diligently on this work, making 
a report to the Legislature, which, with a few 
modification^ in the shape of legislative amend- 
ments, is the rpvlsion of 1800. At tlie extra ses- 
sion of the Legislature of 18G1 he was selected 
as one of four to act in conjunction v.'ith Gov- 
ernor Kirkwood in the management and direc- 
tion of the v/ar and dt^/ense fund bonds of 
tlie .State, an important and responsible trust. 
He entered tlie Army in the fall of 18(i2, at tiie 
most periions period of our struggle with the 
great rebellion, and servd with distinction and 
honor until the 15ih of December, 180-1, wlien, 
by reason of impaired health and the consolida- 
tion of lov/a regiments, he resigned, and again, 
in the spring ol'18G5, resumed the practice of his 
profession, and thus continued until elected to 
the Forty-First Congress. Although his term 



of service here was brief, he faithfully and intel- 
ligently represented the sentiments of his con- 
stituency, and in an eminent degree enjoyed 
the confidence of his colleagues and associates 
on this floor. He was nominated by acclama- 
tion in hisdistrictfor reelection, and would have 
been reelected had not death barred the way. 

ColonelSMYTH was born in Ireland, ofScotch 
parents, and at the early age of fifteen immi- 
grated to this country to seek his fortune, with- 
out means and without i'riends, excefftan elder 
brother who had preceded him by a few years. 
He was thus educated in the school of adversity, 
and early learned to be self-reliant. By nature 
endowed with a strong and clear intellect, his 
early training, acting on these natural gifts, 
admirably fitted him for the various positions 
of honor and responsibility to which he was 
chosen, and enabled him to bring to the dis- 
charge of these varied trusts superior intelli- 
gence, fidelity, industry, and zeal. 

This brief notice of the many positions ■ '^ 
held, beginning with his early youth and co.- 
tinued almost without interruption througho it 
his whole life, indicates the high estimate the 
people of Iowa placed upon his ability and 
worth. This confidence, so worthily bestowed, 
continued to the day of his death. 

He was struck down in the vigor of manhood 
and at the period of his greatest usefulness, he 
being only forty six years of age at the time of 
his death. Choosing Iowa as his home, at the 
beginning of his manhood life, when it con- 
tained a population of only a few thousand, 
he lived to see an intelligent Commonwealtli 
of nearly twelve hundred thousand people; 
and this people will remember him as one of 
the distinguished men within her borders who 
contributed largely to this growth and great- 
ness. He was firm, strong, and ardent in his 
opinions upon any subject in which he took 
an interest. A de.scendant of the old Scotch 
Covenanters, he inherited the firmness and 
obstin.acy of the heroes of Bothweil Bridge in 
the faith that seemed to him the true fiiith. , 

In early life he allied himself to the Dem- 
ocratic party, believing it to represent more 
nearly than any other the liberty of the citizi-n, 
as contrasted with the tyranny from which he 
had fled in his boyhood. But when that great 
party drifted, as he conceived, from its ancient 
moorings into other waters he abandoned it, 
and united with what was then the new K^'pub- 



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lieaii party, to wliich he faithfully adhered, 
aiways5 advocating ilu- most advanced opinious 
and radical view.s -.viiliia that orgaiiizaiion. 

ill his luaiiners and bearing with his fellows 
he wus ahviiys amiable, mild, and courteous, 
seeining to reniember even to his enemies that 
a ''soft, answer turnelh away wrath." In his 
dealings with men, as with parties, he was hon 
est. and eariiesr, ihinldng more of a good name 
than greai riches. Faitbful to friends, he was 
most beloved at his own home, where best 
known, in his death Iowa has lost a faithful 
public servant; and one of its safest and best 
counselors. 

1 1 was my fortune to know him intimately, 
and all hough on one or two occasions we dif 
fered seriously about matters of local concern, 
our pleasant, personal relations were never dis- 
turbed, and the more I knew of him the more 
i-learned to esteem him. I visited him a week 
before his death. Akhon.r^h at the time very 
feeble, he exprew-scd a confident hope of meet- 
ing his friends here at the beginning of the 
jireseiir, session. 'Hie next day I heard his dis- 
ease had taken a fresh hold on him, and then 
came the sad news of his deatli. He retained 
lip to the last moment, in full vigor, his mental 
faculties, and when the last summons came he 
departed, f.aving full hope of fruition in the 
world to come. In his last moments he called 
about him his little children, soon to become 
orphans, and in substance admonished them 
to deal justly v/ith all men; to "seek first the 
kingdon'i of heaven and all other things would 
be added unto them;" and then, bidding friends 
and npig!'bors farewell, his soul departed in 
peace. May our last end be like his. 

Mr. Speaker, I move the adoption of the 
following resolutions: 

JleHi)lv<:d, That the House hears with profound 
regrft, of ihodoath of William Smyth, member from 
the seeonil district of lowii. 

liesofv'd, 'i'lint, as a testimony of respect for the 
memory of the deceased, thciaembers and oraeer.=i of 
tljis House will wear the usual badge of mourning 
lor tilii-tv <l;iv.-i. 

li'ixolvii. That as a furthermark of respect for the 
deceased ihe House do now adjourn. 

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, having been 
•well acquainted with the deceased, and being 
his Kucce«sor iti position here, it would seem 
proper llint 1 should say a few words in response 
to I lie resolution now i)e!bre the House. Yet 
in making sucii remarks, involving the higher 
aspiraiioMS of the mind and addressed to the 
finer. leciings of the heart, i am very forcibly 
reminded of the poverty and inaccuracy of 
buMian language when applied to such asubject. 
A few simple words, however, sometimes speak 
volumes. 11. )w often have I heard members 
of this body, on learning of the death of Colonel 
Rmvtii, say, " I am sorry. He was a good man ; 
he wus an honest man." This, sir, tells the 
Btory ol liis whole life, fortlirongh all the busi- 
iietis relations of life, and in the execution of 
Jill ihe many trusts conferred on him by the 
fcufK-age of the people, he has borne the same 
unwy,vering love for honesty of purpose and 
integrity of character. And it must be con 
tesscd that his life was truly the life of a great 



man, when we reflect that it was filled with 
every-day acts of kindness and deeds of usf ful- 
ness, and that each good deed adds to the 
great sea#f life a wave of progress that shall 
go forward through all the varied years of the 
future and break at last in the beauty of holi- 
ness on the shores of eternity. True greatness 
does not consist in the ability to attract atten- 
tion, any more than true statesmanship is it;di- 
cated bv the ability to declaim, Uetice, when 
faultfinders disparagingly said, " He made very 
few speeches," his friends have referred to 
the long record of his integrity, and then sug- 
gestively pointed to the many rhetorical patriots 
who fell by the wayside, or were carried by their 
own impetuosity into the ranks of the enemy. 

Colonel Smyth was not only a pioneer in the 
westward mai-ch of civilization and empire, 
but he was also a pioneer in the cause of lib- 
erty and reform. On political questions he 
was not a follower, but a leader ; and when a 
new question arose he did not stop to weigh 
and estimate the probabilities as to wh.ich side 
would be immediately in the majority, but his 
only inquiry was, "Which is right?" And 
having determined which was right, he pursued 
it unflinchingly through prosperity and through 
adversity, believing what has been uttered by 
the poet — 
"Though the cause of evil prosper, yet 'tis Truth 

alone is strong. 
And albeit she wander outcast now, I see around 

her throng 
Troops of beautiful tall angels to ensuield her from 

the wrong." 

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"Though Truth be on the scaffold and Error on the 
throne, , , , . , , 

Yet that saafFold sways the future, and behma the 

dim unknown 
Standelli Ood within the shadow keeping wateu 

above His own." 
When, in a dark hour, the spirit of wrong and 
oppression, assuming the diabolical form and 
the black flag of treason, aimed its weapons of 
destruction at the life of the nation, and opened 
on the theater of the western continent, behind 
the foot liglits of burning cities, before the 
audience of nations, and around the very cradle 
of liberty, that grand contest between right 
and wrong which should determine the ques- 
tion whether the American flag should stand 
in its redeemed glory the bright emblem of 
freedom, or whether it should sink with the 
dying hope of republican liberty amid the 
smoke and din and carnage of war, then did 
Colonel William Smytu put on Ihe crowning 
glory of his integrity and patriotism by draw- 
ing his sword and risking his life in the cause 
of truth, justice, and his country. He stood 
firm amid the harrowing scenes and trying cir- 
cumstances of deadly conflict ; and when at last 
the glad cry of victory v/ent up from the war- 
scatlied ranks of the Union, he revered the 
sacrifices of the widow and orphan, Qiid with 
them dropped tears of sympathy over the graves 
of the fallen. But having come out of the con- 
flict suffering under relentless disease, he has 
at last fallen a sacrifice; to the cause of his 
country, and has gone beyond the valley to 
muster on fairer fields those of .his command 
who preceded liiiu at the transfiguration ou 



Lookout mountain iind Mission;ii-y ridj;e. May 
the peace of the riKliteous bf; his, and his sac- 
rifice be hallowed in the inemosies ot'thn good 
and the trne as lon^ as sacrilices are needed 
i'or the redemption of man. 

Mr. LOUGHRIDGE. Mr. Speaker, it is, 
I believe, ihe lirst time in the history of the 
Stale of iowatliat its delegaiion in this House 
has been called upon to announce tlie death of 
one of their number. And, sir, it is with feel- 
ings of peculiar sadness that I now ji>in with my 
colleagues in this last tribute to our deceased 
colleague. 1 am not here, sir, to utter an empty, 
formal, soulless panegyric. That were mock- 
ery, ior I know full well that flattery irom the 
mouth of the living cannot " soothe the dull, 
cold ear of death." But I rise to speak the 
words of truth concerning a departed friend, 
■uhose example I value and whose memory 1 
cherish and revere. 

Sir, in the death of Judge Smyth this House 
has lost one of its most valuable members. 
The State he so well represented has lost one 
of its truest and best njen, and some of us 
have lost a warm- hearted personal friend. My 
persoiuil acquaintance with Judge Smyth 
extended over a period of some fifteen years. 
When I tirst met him lie was a judge upon the 
bench in the State of lovvfa, and 1 a lawyer at 
the bar. From that time till his death my 
acquaintance with him was continuous and 
intimate. I knew him well in different rela- 
tions of public life, and I think 1 can truly say 
that I have seldom known a public man of so 
few faults and so many virtues. Modest and 
unassuming, as true worth often is, he was not 
taken bv the world for all that his merits and 
his abiliiy deserved, and notie appreciated him 
so highly as those who knew him best. 

Tiie leading facisiu his biography hare been 
alluded to in the eloquent remarks of my col- 
leagues ; yet there are a few traits of his char- 
acter to which 1 cannot refrain from alluding. 

One was his untiring and indomitable per- 
severance and tenacity of purpose — a trait of 
character wliicli he possessed in a remarkable 
degree, and which was doubtless one leading 
cause of his success in life. When he formed 
a purpose to accomplish any given end, while 
other men may have had more power, yet no 
mortal man could pursue that end with more 
tenacity than he ; and although he could not 
always succeed, yel it was certainly a hopeless 
case v,-hen he abandoned the effort. 

Another trait of character which distin- 
guished the deceased — ami a noble one it is — 
was the fidelity of his friendships, i do not 
indorse the misanthropic sentiment of Gold- 
smith, v/herein 1 think he does great injustice 
to human nature when he says: 

" And what ia friendship but a name, 
A charm that lulls to sleep, 
A f hade that follo-ws wenlth or f;irae. 
But leaves the wretch to weep V" 

No, sir, there is a true friendship; a friend- 
shiji that will not fail in the hour of trial and of 
want; a friendship that will not desert a friend 
for sellish considerations or for personal prolit ; 



a friendship that outlasts prosperity and grows 
brighter and stronger in adversity. That kind 
of a friend had he, who was fortutiate enougii to 
be counted among the friei-ds of our deceased 
colleague. 

But, sir, over and above all, and constituting 
the highest encomium upon the character of 
the deceased, as it will upoti the character of 
any man who possesses it, wjis his stern and 
inflexible morality, and the [)uri:y of his char- 
acter, exemplified as it was in his public and his 
private life ; as the lawyer, the judge, the legis- 
lator, and the private citiztMi. His principles 
of lite were pure and fixed and his convictions 
strong, and he was ready to peril all in their 
defense; as conscientious and firm for the 
right, as he understood the right, as that grand 
Scotch race from which lie sprang. 1 have said 
that this was the highestencomium which could 
be pronounced upon any man, and I repeat it. 
I would that 1 could speak it into the ear and 
impress it upon the heart of every young man 
in this broad land, that the grandest words that 
can be spoken or written of any man after his 
denth are, *• He was a good man." And, sir, 
I deem it fit and proper here to say, standisig 
in this council hall of the nation, that the 
hope of the Kepublic is not so much in the 
fame, the grandeur, the eloquence, and the 
ability of its statesmen and its law makers, as 
in their honesty of purpose, and their purit- 
of character. 

Mr. 'Speaker, the frequency with which we 
are called upon to pay these last tributes of 
respect to thoseof our number called hence by 
the king of terrors ought to deeply im[)ress u.s 
with the uncertainty of life, and the fleeting, 
transitory character of all earthly things; and 
that ''in the midst of life we are in death." 
But a few weeks since, at the close of the lasc 
session, ray colleague occupied his seat yondei, 
in health and with as bright prospects for long 
life as any of us. To day liis pale, ashy lips 
are closed forever and sealed in death, and in 
the cold and silent grave he sleeps the sleep 
that knows no wakiiig this side the great resur- 
rection morn, when you, sir, and 1, and all 
of us will meet him face to face with the great 
Judge of the universe. I trust, sir, that these 
frequent admonitions, coming to us from these 
vacant seats and opening graves of our col- 
leagues, may not be lost upon us ; that we 
may live more for eternity and less for time: 
so that when death's gavel tells us that our 
short hour of life is ended, we may have an 
abundant entrance into a brighter and a better 
world. 

Mr. WILSON, of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, 
death has indeed been busy in selecting his vic- 
tims from this Congress. We have had in the 
last year an unusual number of members who 
have been gathered in the full tide of their use- 
fulness to their home beyond the grave. Amid 
i'.ll these I know of no one whose loss I 
now more sadly feel than that of him v/hose 
name has been mentioned in these resolutions. 
Although my acquaintance with him dated only 



from the beginning of this Congress, yet we 
were from neighboring States, representing 
identical interests, serving on the same com- 
mittee, sitting side by side through many long 
meetings during the past two years; and more 
than an ordinary intimacy grew up between 
us, and I cannot forbear adding my testimony 
to bis worth and to his high character, both as 
a citizen and as a member of this body. 

His quiet character and his modest demeanor 
made him less known than his true worth should 
have demanded. It required an intimate ac- 
quaintance fully to appreciate the great and 
good qualities of liis character. He was a man 
who was truly industrious. He was always 
present at t!ie meetings of committees. Every 
day you would see him goiijg to the Depart- 
ments, showing an nnusual attention to the 
business of his constituents. He was earnest 
rn(] honest in fulfilling the true duties of a Con- 
gressman. Deeds instead of words marked 
his career, both as a soldier and a statesman. 
Action instead of oratory, result instead of pro- 
fession, were the characteristics of his earnest, 
working nature. 

A western man in all his feelings, he was 
thoroughly imbued with those large and lib- 
eral views which have contributed so much to 
the wondcrliil progress of the great valley ot 
the Mississippi. And I feel that in losing him 
we have lost a man who was truly valuable to 
us, one of those frontiersmen who have con- 
tributed so much to the rapid march of the star 
of empire westward. Those of his own State 
know him better tiian all others, and the testi- 
mony which they give is one to which my brief 
yet intimate acquaintance can add its unquali- 
Led indorsement. 

Leaving him but a few short months since, 
apparently in the full enjoyment of health, it 
is almost impossible that memory should so 
quickly recognize the loss and the vacancy cre- 
ated. I (ind myself, on entering our commit- 
tee-room, involuntarily looking around to the 
chair he occupied and wondering why he is not 
still there. So suddenly has this taken place, 
so frequent have been these warnings, that we 
ought not merely to remember the past, but to 
look to the future. Who can tell what one of 
us may return after the coming short recess? 



Who can tell what one will next be taken as a 
victim of the fell destroyer? 

Mr. Speaker, there are those who have 
acquired more celebrity and who have had a 
wider notoriety: but, after all, it is the quiet, 
earnest, working men who are the most valua- 
ble, not onlv to the community in which they 
live, but to' the nation at large; and it was 
the integrity and industry of Mr. Smyth which 
made him a most valuable man, and which now 
makes him a most deplorable loss to the coun- 
try ; and yet we cannot but feel that he is gath- 
ered from the trials and troubles of earth to 
the heaven of rest in celestial fields; for li an 
honest life, a fulfillment of duty to his tellow- 
menand of obligation to his God, can deserve 
the high rewards that are promised hereafter, 
he is now certainly enjoying all that heart can 
[ desire or hope expect. 

' Mr. JULIAN. Mr. Speaker, I only desire 
to add a word to what has been so well said by 
the collpaguos of the deceased. I kuow little 
personally of the facts which make up his 
biography, and which are so honorable to his 
career as'a man and a public character, but it 
affords me a real pleasure to be able to bear 
witness to his uncommon personal worth and 
integrity. From t,he beginning of the present 
Congress to the close of the last session my 
relauons with him were most intimate and 
friendly. He served v/ith me on the same 
commiUee, and during his brief service here 
was called upon to face some of the chiet 
temptations which make public life a constant 
moral danger. His integrity was never found 
wanting, and he discharged all his duties with 
a fidelity and conscientiousness which did him 
the highest honor. He proved by acts, speak- 
inp- louder than any words, how possible it is 
for an honest man to be a politician, and thus 
to rebuke the too prevalent popular skepticism 
in the virtue of public men. The example of 
Mr. Smyth is worthy of all honor, and does 
more than all else to reconcile bis family ana 
friends to his untimely death in the midst ot 
a most honorable and useful career. 

The resolutions were agreed to ; and accord- 
ingly (at two o'clock and ten minutes p. m.) 
the House adjourned. 



Printed at the Office of the Congressional Globe. 



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